• In this chapter, you will learn about life in the
new nation, from the Presidency of George
Washington to that of James Monroe. Our
earliest Presidents established many new
traditions that have survived until today.
America also greatly expanded in size in those
years and preserved its independence in the
War of 1812. This period is known as the early
republic. This is the period from 1789-1824
when the first government under the
Constitution was formed.
THINK ABOUT IT…
• You might think that the ratification of the United States
Constitution settled the question of exactly what the
American government was supposed to do. In fact, it did
not. Even before President Washington took office, different
factions offered different ideas about what the Constitution
allowed government to do.
• Suppose that you are about to take office as the first
President of the United States and you have access to
today’s technology. On a separate sheet of paper, write a
series of five or six tweets or a short blog post explaining to
the American people exactly what you think governments
should do and why.
THE PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON
• In 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as the
nation’s first President. As President, Washington
guided the new government as it applied the ideas
expressed in the Constitution to create a functioning
federal republic. Upon taking office, Washington
faced several major challenges. He had to define
the authority of the central government, create a
stable economic system, build a military, maintain
national security, conduct foreign relations, and
enter into treaties with several Indian tribes. In this
section, we will look more closely at both
Washington’s domestic and foreign policies.
• Domestic policy refers to government policies dealing with
conditions within the nation.
• Foreign policy concerns relations with other countries.
WASHINGTON’S DOMESTIC POLICY
George Washington – President
Henry Knox – Secretary of War
Alexander Hamilton – Sec. of Treasury
Thomas Jefferson – Secretary of State
Edmond Randolph – Attorney General
• Defining Our New Central Government
• The Constitution allowed the President to
appoint officials in charge of executive
departments. The chief officials that
Washington appointed began meeting
together with him in what came to be
known as the Cabinet. Over the years,
additional Cabinet departments were
created. The Cabinet was one of the
important precedents established by
Washington. A precedent is an action
taken for the first time, which is followed
by others afterwards.
CREATING A STABLE ECONOMY
• The most pressing problems facing Washington’s government were
economic. As a result of the American Revolution, the national
government owed $54 million. The states owed another $24 million,
and the paper money issued by the Continental Congress and the
Articles of Confederation was worthless. The job of solving these
economic problems fell to Alexander Hamilton, our nation’s first
Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton drew up a four-part plan for
getting the nation on a sound financial basis:
Repay the debt.
Hamilton believed the
national governments
should pay off the debts
of both the states and
previous national
government in order to
establish the nation’s
National Bank. Hamilton
proposed creation of a
national bank as a place
to deposit taxes, to
provide a sound
currency, and to make
loans to the national
government.
Whiskey Tax. Hamilton
proposed a tax on
whiskey to raise money
from western farmers.
Protective Tariff. Hamilton
asked Congress to pass a
high tariff – a tax on
imported foreign goods
which would protect
American industries from
foreign competition.
RISE OF POLITICAL PARTIES
• Hamilton's program was strongly opposed by Thomas
Jefferson, Washington’s Secretary of State. Jefferson,
Madison and their followers believed Hamilton's plan would
just benefit wealthy Americans since speculators had
bought up much of the debt. They also felt that the
Constitution did not give the federal government the right to
create a national bank. This disagreement gave rise to
America’s first political parties – associations that try to elect
their members to government offices so that they will pass
laws favorable to their ideas.
• Hamilton’s followers became known as the Federalists,
Jefferson’s supporters called themselves the DemocraticRepublicans. Their disagreements were heightened by the
outbreak of a revolution in France, where commoners
rebelled against the king and nobles.
Federalists
Democratic-Republicans
Main Party Leaders
Alexander Hamilton and John
Adams
Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison
Constitutional Views
Loose constructionists: the
national government should
take all steps needed to
govern the nation
Strict constructionists: the
national governments should
only have powers expressly
listed in the Constitution
Views on Government
Favored a strong federal
government
Favored states’ rights
Views on Foreign Policy
Pro-British: Federalists feared
the French Revolution as an
example of mob rule
Pro-French: Jefferson was
sympathetic to the French
Revolution
Main Supporters
Merchants and manufacturers
Farmers and skilled craftsmen
Who Should Vote
Only those meeting property
qualifications
Vote should be open to all
adult male
DEFEAT OF THE PROTECTIVE TARIFF
• All of Hamilton’s program was approved except for
the proposed tariff. Southern states opposed high
tariff rates because tariffs would make it harder for
Southerners to sell their crops to Britain and to buy
British goods.
THE WHISKEY
REBELLION OF 1794
• Farmers living west of the Appalachian Mountains often converted
their excess grain into whiskey, which was easier to carry over the
mountains than bushels of grain. The new federal whiskey tax
caused great hostility among them. Farmers in Western
Pennsylvania refused to pay the tax and threatened tax collectors.
• Washington called up the militia to put down the rebellion.
Washington, with Alexander Hamilton by his side, was ready to use
force, but the rebels fled before any fighting took place.
• HOW WERE SHAY’S REBELLION AND THE WHISKEY REBELLION
HANDLED DIFFERENTLY? EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER.
WASHINGTON’S FOREIGN POLICY
• During Washington’s Presidency, the revolution
in France became increasingly violent. The
revolutionaries overthrew and executed Louis
XVI, the French King. War between France
and Britain then broke out in 1793. Jefferson’s
supporters continue to favor the French
revolutionaries, while Alexander Hamilton,
John Adams, and other Federalists favored the
British.
PROCLAMATION OF NEUTRALITY (1793)
• The United States had won its independence largely through
the military and financial support of France. Some French
leaders thought it was time for the Americans to return the favor
and that the Franco-American alliance of 1778 was still in
effect.
• Hamilton and his supporters were able to persuade Washington
that France’s war was totally European in nature. Washington
finally became convinced that there was nothing to be gained
if the United States involved itself in this European conflict.
Compared to European powers, the United States was weak
militarily. To avoid being drawn into the Anglo-French conflict,
Washington adopted a policy of neutrality – the United States
would avoid taking sides in any European conflict or becoming
involved in any foreign war.
ACTING AS AN AMATEUR HISTORIAN
•Proclamation of
Neutrality
• The French ambassador, Citizen Genet,
nevertheless tried to recruit U.S. ships
and volunteers to help the French.
Many French felt the Americans owed
them help. Washington sent a
complaint to Genet, who quickly
backed down. Meanwhile, John Jay
negotiated a treaty with Britain to
promote trade. Thomas Pickney
negotiated another treaty with Spain,
settling America’s borders. The new
treaty gave U.S. citizens the right to ship
goods along the Mississippi River, all the
way down to the port of New Orleans.
WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS
• After two terms in office, Washington declined a third term. He
especially disliked the new party rivalry. In 1796, Washington
delivered his Farewell Address. Although known as his most
famous “speech,” it was actually delivered in the form of a
letter to the public published in the form of a speech.
• Washington used his Farewell Address to give his countrymen his
advice as a “departing friend” on what he saw as the greatest
threats to the nation’s survival. Washington addressed relations
between the North and South and the importance of moral
virtue. He warned against the rise of political parties and the
challenges of foreign policy.
• Washington believed two terms were the most any President
should serve. For the next 130 years, Presidents followed this
precedent by not seeking more than two terms.
ACTING AS AN AMATEUR HISTORIAN
•Washington’s
Farewell
Address
•Presidency of
George
Washington
Thinking Map
PORTRAIT OF THE NATION IN 1800
• By 1800, the United States consisted of 16 states with a
combined population of just over five million people.
Almost one million of these were enslaved AfricanAmericans. American culture was a unique mixture of
British, Irish, European, Native America, and African
traditions, under American conditions.
• Agriculture.
• America was still an agrarian (agricultural) society. Crops
were the basis of the nation’s wealth. Some crops, like
cotton and tobacco in the South, were grown for export.
Farmers in the West grew wheat or raised livestock for
Americans to eat.
• Rural vs. Urban Centers
• In 1800, the vast majority of Americans lived in
the countryside. Most Americans were selfsufficient in what has been referred to as the
“Age of Homespun”. They lived on a farm in
the countryside, grew their own food, and
made their own clothes, shelter and furniture.
Only one in 25 Americans was a city dweller.
Larger cities were located along the Atlantic
coast, from Boston to Baltimore. Philadelphia
was the nation’s largest city, with 69,000
inhabitants.
• Social differences
• Great differences existed among Americans
based on class, race and gender. Wealthy
planters and merchants enjoyed travel and
luxuries. However, most Americans were
farmers or workers with lives of toil. Women
had few rights. Enslaved African-American
slaves had almost no rights at all.
• Rise of Industry
• A new industrial society was only just starting to emerge in
the Northeast. Eli Whitney introduced the use of
standardized interchangeable parts. In the 1790s, Samuel
Slater defied British law by building a machine that could
spin cotton fibers into thread. Slater’s spinning mill in Rhode
Island was followed by a gradual increase in the use of
machines and a shift from working at home or in small
shops to working in factories.
• Techniques of mass production were pioneered by the
American inventor Eli Whitney. Whitney won a contract to
produce 10,000 muskets. The key to his winning this bid was
his new process for manufacturing interchangeable firingmechanism parts. The inspiration came from techniques
that Whitney had developed in the manufacture of his
cotton gin.
• Whitney’s plan was for machines to produce
standardized parts which could be used with other
parts to assemble a whole product without a laborer
filing and fitting each part together. This
interchangeability allowed easy assembly to new
devices and easier repair of existing devices, while
minimizing the time and skill needed for a person to
assemble or repair a product. Use of interchangeable
parts in the manufacture of muskets (guns) was a
major contribution to the development of America
industry.
• The shift of manufacturing to factories, known as the
Industrial Revolution, would soon lead to the rise of new
industries and rapidly growing cities.
• Transportation
• America’s vast and untamed landscape made
travel difficult. Cities were connected by roads
that were little more than dirt trails. A few had log
or plank roads. Most short travel was done by
walking. For longer trips, people rode on horsedrawn wagons. Travel on roads was slow: a trip
from Boston to New York took three days by stage
coach. Western settlers sought toads to aid
settlement and the transfer of goods. They wished
for a way to make it easier to market their goods
and to buy essential supplies in return. In 1806,
Congress set aside funds to build the first federally
funded road, the National Road. Travel by water
was easier and cheaper than travel overland.
Goods were often carried along streams and rivers
to ports along the coast. People took ferries to
cross rivers and took boats to travel down rives,
across lakes, or along coastlines.
• Communication
• Communications were slow. There were no
telephones, telegraphs, televisions, or
computers. People communicated primarily
by letter. Letters had to be carried over dusty,
unpaved roads or by packet boat. Mail was
often mangled or even lost. News about
events traveled slowly. Most people received
their information from local newspapers. Most
were published weekly or monthly, and were
shared by many readers.
REGIONAL DIFFERENCES
• The three main regions from colonial times –
New England, the Middle Atlantic Colonies,
and the South – were replaced by the North,
the South and the emerging West. The
nation’s population was growing at an
enormous rate. The land available for
settlement increased by almost the size of
Europe – from 4.4 million to 7.8 million square
kilometers.
•The U.S. in the
Early 1800s
Thinking Map
THE PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON
• The second President of the United States, John
Adams, was a Federalist who continued many of
Washington’s policies. In 1800, John Adams lost
the Presidential election to Thomas Jefferson.
• Jefferson sought to show that he was one of the
people. The capital had just been moved from
Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. Jefferson
walked along from his boardinghouse to the
Capitol to take the oath of office. His
inauguration marked the first transition of the
executive branch from one party to another.
Sometimes known as the “Revolution of 1800”,
this change occurred without violence.
JEFFERSON’S VIEWS ON GOVERNMENT
• Jefferson saw his election as a turning
point. He believed the best government
was one that governed least. Jefferson
opposed special privileges for the wealthy
and had strong sympathies for the
common farmer. As President, he set
about reducing the size of the army,
ending naval expansion, and lowering
government costs.
ACTING AS AN AMATEUR HISTORIAN
•First Inaugural
Address Jefferson
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE (1803)
• Jefferson had always dreamed of extending
the United States westward. He sent envoys to
France to negotiate the right to send goods
down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. In
1803, Napoleon Bonaparte, the new ruler of
France, offered to sell the Louisiana Territory.
• Although Jefferson was uncertain whether the
Constitution allowed the federal government
to buy new territory, he went ahead with the
purchase. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the
size of the nation. It gave Americans control of
the Mississippi River. In 1804, Jefferson sent
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore
this vast region. Their expedition laid the
groundwork for the future westward expansion
of the United States.
MARBURY V MADISON (1803)
• Just before President John Adams left
office, he appointed John Marshall as
Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court was often viewed
as the weakest of the three branches,
but Marshall made the Supreme Court
a new center of government power.
The Marshall Court established the
principle of judicial review in Marbury v
Madison.
MARBURY V MADISON BACKGROUND
• President Adams, just before leaving office,
appointed Marbury as a justice of the peace. The
new Secretary of State, James Madison, refused to
deliver his commission (official papers) making him
a justice of the peace. Marbury asked the
Supreme Court to require Madison to deliver his
commission. The first Congress had passed the
Judiciary Act of 1789 to create a lower federal
courts. Marbury argued the act gave the
Supreme Court the power to force Madison to
deliver the commission.
MARBURY V MADISON DECISION
• The Court ruled that the part of the Judiciary
Act that gave the Supreme Court the power
to order delivery of the Commission went
against the Constitution. The Court declared
that part of the act to be null and void. This
case established judicial review – the right of
the Supreme Court to declare a law
unconstitutional. This greatly strengthened
the power of the judiciary by making it the
final authority in interpreting the Constitution.
ACTING AS AN AMATEUR HISTORIAN
•Marbury v
Madison
THE EMBARGO ACT OF 1807
• War continued to rage between Britain and France.
British ships started stopping U.S. ships to search for
deserters from the British navy. Sometimes they took
Americans to serve on British ships. This practice of
impressment (forced military service) greatly
humiliated Americans and put pressure on President
Jefferson to take action.
• To avoid war, Jefferson pushed the Embargo Act
through Congress. Under the act, American ships
were prohibited from trading with European nations.
In the last days of Jefferson’s Presidency, Congress
replaced the Embargo Act with the Non-Intercourse
Act (1809). This act lifted the embargo on U.S.
shipping except for ships bound for British or French
ports.
•Jefferson’s
Presidency
Thinking Map
PRESERVING THE NATION’S INDEPENDENCE
THE WAR OF 1812
• After Jefferson served two terms as President, he
followed the precedent set by Washington and
stepped down from the Presidency. His good
friend and fellow Democratic-Republican, James
Madison, became the nation’s fourth President in
1809. Three years later, Americans were drawn
into another war with Great Britain in 1812. This
war is known as the War of 1812, or the “Second
War for Independence.”
CAUSES OF THE CONFLICT
• Ever since 1763, France and Britain had been
continuously at war against each other with only on
short break. Americans continued to trade with Europe,
but tried to keep out of the war between the two
nations. However, British ships continued to stop
American ships and to seize (or impress) U.S. sailors.
Some British troops in Canada also encouraged Native
American Indians to attack American settlements. At
the same time, several young Congressmen thought the
time was ripe to seize Canada from the British, who were
fighting Napoleon in Europe. In 1812, President Madison
asked Congress to declare war on Britain.
MAIN EVENTS OF THE WAR
• American forces tried to invade Canada, but they were
unsuccessful. In retaliation, British troops temporarily occupied
Washington, D.C. and burned down the White House. Madison’s
wife, Dolley Madison, acted quickly to remove paintings and other
valuables from the White House before the British arrived.
• Much of the fighting during the War of 1812 took place on the Great Lakes
and in upstate New York. In 1813, British troops further retaliated for the
attack on Canada by burning the American settlement at Buffalo.
Meanwhile, American and British ships clashed in the Battle of Lake Erie.
• In December 1814, a peace treaty was finally signed between Britain and
the United States. This agreement actually left things much as they had
been before the war. The British promised they would no longer search
American ships for British deserters. Americans promised to respect British
rule in Canada. Americans felt they had proved they could protect their
independence. Communications from Europe were so slow that the
bloodiest battle of the war was actually fought after the treaty was signed.
General Andrew Jackson defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans in
January 1815.
• One legacy of the war was Francis Scott
Key’s “The Star Spangled Banner.” Key
wrote this poem while imprisoned in
Baltimore on a British ship. It later became
our national anthem.
IMPACT OF THE WAR OF 1812
• The United States emerged with worldwide respect for
resisting Great Britain. European rulers realized they
could not interfere with American trade. The morale of
American citizens increased greatly. They had fought
one of the greatest military powers in the world and
managed to survive. The Great Lakes were no longer
disputed, but became the shared property of Canada
and the United States. The War of 1812 also spurred the
economic growth of the United States. The Northeast
also saw a major spur in manufacturing. A British
blockade had created a shortage of cotton cloth in the
United States during the war, and Northeastern
manufacturers met the demand.
• To encourage
manufacturing the
government placed tariffs
on imported goods,
making American products
more competitive with
imported goods. This also
encouraged the creation
of the Lowell System in
Massachusetts. This system
placed all stages of
manufacturing under one
roof, replacing the earlier
domestic system, where
people worked at home.
THE “ERA OF GOOD FEELINGS”
• The happy end of the War of 1812 led to the “Era of Good Feelings,” a
period in which all Americans belonged to the same political party – the
Democratic-Republicans. This was partly due to the collapse of the
Federalist Party, the old party of Alexander Hamilton and John Adams.
The Federalists, largely based in New England, had opposed the war
because it had cut off trade with Europe, hurting New England shipping.
Some New England Federalists even passed resolutions calling for New
England to secede (leave) from the Union. At the same time, many of
the most important Federalist ideas had already been adopted. By the
end of the war, the Federalist Party had become so unpopular that the
party had dissolved.
• The “Era of Good Feelings” was a time in which American nationalism, or
pride in the nation, surged. Americans had preserved their
independence from Great Britain and had learned to cooperate in a
common effort.
CLAY’S “AMERICAN SYSTEM”
• In these years, Americans cooperated to improve their transportation
routes by building roads and canals. Henry Clay, a spokesman for
moderate policies, sought to resolve differences between the North and
South while representing the nationalist outlook of the West. Clay proposed
his “American System” to Congress.
• His system consisted of a high tariff (tax on imports) to protect American
manufactured goods from competition with cheaper British products. Clay
then proposed that the revenues collected from the tariff should be used
to pay for internal improvements, such as new roads and canals, in the
West. In this way, Clay hoped his American System would bind the
industrial East and the agrarian West together. Despite Clay’s good
intentions, the American System never went into effect. The nationals
system of internal improvements was never adequately funded by
Congress; the failure to provide funds was due in part to sectional
jealousies and a belief that such spending was never provided for in the
Constitution.
THE ERIE CANAL
• In the early 1800s, it was easier and cheaper to ship
goods by water than by land. In 1816, the Governor of
New York proposed a 360-mile canal connecting Lake
Erie to the Hudson River. Farmers could then ship goods
from the Great Lakes to New York City entirely by water.
After a long and heated debate, state lawmakers voted
to build a canal.
• The Erie Canal was the most ambitious project ever
constructed up to that time. A path 50 feet wide had to
be cut through forests, swamps, and hills. Then a ditch
40 feet wide and 4 feet deep had to be dug. The canal
was an important modification of the physical
environment. Without the heavy equipment we have
today, thousands of workers were needed to cut trees,
rip out tree stumps, blast through rock, and dig the
canal. One out of every four workers was Irish. At the
peak of construction, more than four thousand workers
were laboring on the canal. Canal workers earned
about $10 a month in 1832.
• In order to pass through the mountains and come down gradually
to the level of elevation (height) of the Hudson River, the engineers
of the canal designed a series of locks. These locks were spaces
that could be closed off. They acted like giant bathtubs in which
boats could be raised and lowered with the water.
• After seven years, the Erie Canal was completed in 1825. Barges
were pulled slowly through the canal by mules. Cities along its route
grew and prospered. Western farmers could now send goods from
the Great Lakes along the canal and down the Hudson River. New
York City grew to become the nation’s largest city.
THE BEGINNING OF THE
TRANSPORTATION REVOLUTION
• America’s transportation system went through other important
changes in these years. Other states copied New York by building their
own canals. As more people moved west, private companies opened
special roads called turnpikes. The steamboat, invented by Robert
Fulton in 1807, revolutionized water transportation. Fulton used a steam
engine to drive a large wheel with paddles. Steam power was more
dependable than wind and could even be used to move boats
upstream against the current.
• During its first test, The Clermont failed. However, after a few
adjustments to its engine, the boat was on its way. Fulton’s boat was
able to make a 150-mile trip from New York City to Albany traveling
against the current of the Hudson River in only 32 hours. Soon,
steamboats were traveling up and down the Mississippi and other
rivers, carrying both people and goods.
GIBBONS V OGDEN (1824)
• During this period, the Supreme Court
encouraged the growth of a national market
by its decision in the case of Gibbons v Ogden.
• Background
• Ogden had been granted a monopoly by New
York State to operate a steamboat between New
York and New Jersey. Gibbons was granted a
similar license by the federal government. Ogden
sued to stop Gibbons from competing with him,
Gibbons appealed to the Supreme Court.
GIBBONS V OGDEN DECISION/ SIGNIFICANCE
• Decision/Significance:
• Marshall ruled that Congress could regulate ferry
boats crossing the Hudson River between New
York and New Jersey as part of its power under
the Constitution to control “interstate
commerce” (trade between states). Only the
federal government, according to the U.S.
Constitution, could regulate interstate
commerce, including activities affecting
interstate commerce. This established the
federal government’s right to regulate anything
that involves commerce between the states. It
set the stage for future expansion of
Congressional power over other activities once
thought to be under the control of the states.
MCCULLOCH V MARYLAND (1819)
• Another key decision by Chief Justice John Marshall was
McCulloch v Maryland. This case also tested the relationship
between state and federal law.
• Background
• In 1818, the Maryland legislature imposed a tax on the
Maryland branch of the Second National Bank. The National
Bank was unpopular since it competed with state banks.
Maryland legislatures hoped that state taxes on the federal
bank would shut down the Maryland branch. James
McCulloch, the federal bank’s cashier, did not pay the taxes
the Maryland law required, and Maryland sued for payment.
After the state of Maryland won the dispute in its own courts,
the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
MCCULLOCH V MARYLAND
DECISION/SIGNIFICANCE
• The case presented two key issues:
1. Does Congress have the power to create a bank, even though
that power is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution?
• Marshall ruled that Congress could indeed charter a national bank, since
this would help Congress carry out its others powers.
• Marshall said that the “necessary and proper” clause (elastic clause) in
the Constitution gives Congress all those powers needed to carry out its
powers listed in the Constitution.
2. Does Maryland have the power to tax an institution of the
federal government?
• Since the federal government had the right to establish the bank,
Maryland had no right to interfere by taxing it.
ACTING AS AN AMATEUR HISTORIAN
•McCulloch v
Maryland
•3 Supreme
Court Cases
Thinking Map
THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE OF 1820
• The American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention had failed to resolve
the issue of slavery in America. George Washington had freed his own slaves on
his death, but Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence,
had not. Many early American leaders had imagined that slavery would just
gradually die out. However, the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793
made it easier for unskilled slaves to remove seeds from the type of cotton that
grew in the South. This invention led to the spread of slavery in the South. The
factories of England and the Northern United States kept up the demand for raw
cotton. With the purchase of the Louisiana Territory, the issue of slavery again
came into sharp focus. Should the territories of the Louisiana Purchase enter the
Union as free or slave states?
• Henry Clay engineered a compromise in which slavery was forbidden in the
Louisiana Territory north of the “Missouri Compromise Line” (36,30), except Missouri.
One free state (Maine) and one slave state (Missouri) were admitted to the Union
at the same time to keep the balance between free and slave states in the
Senate.
THE MONROE DOCTRINE
• James Monroe fought in the American Revolution, helped
negotiate the Louisiana Purchase, and served as Secretary of
State under President Madison. In 1817, Monroe became
President. In 1823 in his annual message to Congress, Monroe
issued a bold statement on foreign policy. He repeated the
nation’s longstanding commitment to neutrality and offered a
warning to Europe. The American and French Revolutions had
inspired people in Latin America to be free. During the
Napoleonic Wars, Spain had been cut off from its colonies. The
Spanish colonists grew accustomed to self-government. When
Spain’s king was restored, he tried to reassert control. Colonists
in Latin America then declared their independence. Later, it
was feared that France would help Spain reconquer her
colonies.
• Monroe announced that the United States would
oppose any attempts at European powers to
establish new colonies or to restore Spanish rule in
countries in the Western Hemisphere that had
achieved their independence.
• The Monroe Doctrine told Europeans to keep their
hands off the Western Hemisphere. Besides
warning Spain and France, Monroe was also
addressing Russia, whose advance down the
Alaskan coast threatened U.S. claims in Oregon
Territory in the West. In this way, the United States
established its own “sphere of influence” in North
America.
ACTING AS AN AMATEUR HISTORIAN
•Monroe Doctrine
THE “ERA OF GOOD FEELINGS” ENDS
• The “Era of Good Feelings” came to an end with the
disputed Presidential election of 1824. You will earn more
about this election in the next chapter.
• Key Events in the “Era of Good Feelings”
• End of Party Conflict
• Surge of American Nationalism
• Clay’s American System
• Missouri Compromise (1820)
• Monroe Doctrine (1823)
• Gibbons v Ogden (1824)
• Erie Canal (1825)
•War of 1812,
Monroe Doctrine,
Era of Good
Feelings Thinking
Map